Holder for explosive targets



Dec, 23, 1924.

RE. REARDON HOLDER FOR EXPLOSIVE TARGETS Original Filed March 13, 1917 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Bet. 23, 1924. R. E. REARDON HOLDER FOR EXPLOSIVE' TARGETS Original Filed March 13. 1917 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F 6.

AIM AT UPPER TARGET Patented Dec. 23, 1924,

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eaaar HOLDER FOR nXrLosrvn TARGETS. 1,

Original application filed March 13, 1917, :Serial No. 154,563. "Divided and 1920. Serial No; 385,296.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, R-onnn'r EDWIN REAR- DON, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing in the city of l Vashington, in the District of Columbia, United States of America, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Holders for Explosive Targets, of which the following is a specification.

, This invention is a subdivision of the subject of my .United States patent application filed March 13, 1917, Serial No. 154,563, on which PatentNo. 1,321,849 issued November 18, 1919, for new and useful improvements in explosive targets, and relates to holders for targets that indicate by audible means when a bulls eye hit is made. The object of this invention is to furnish for such targets a target holder which will hold them conveniently for use andprovide means for the ready replacement of the hit indicating means after a hit thereon. A special object of this invention is to provide a hand or automatically adjusted target and holder for realistic rapid fire rifle practice with the clevice known as thetarget practice rod, wherein an extensible rod is mounted in a gun barrel, adapting it for miniature target practice without the use of ammunition; each perfect shot in this case being indicated by an explosion in the target.

lVith the objects in view, the invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims, it being understood that I do not intend to limit myself to the details of construction of the various parts. p

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 shows a front elevation of one form of this invention.

Figure 2 shows a front elevation of another form. I,

Figure 3 shows a front elevation of the device of Fig. 2 with the pivoted 'front cover turned down.

Figure 4 shows a vertical centralsectional view of the device of Fig. 2.

Figure 5 shows a paper disk forming a part of the device of .Fig. 2.

Figure 6 shows a front elevation of still another form of this invention.

Figure 7 shows a vertical sectional view of the device of Figure 6.

of Figs. 1 to 7.

this application filed May 29,

Figure 8 shows a front ,elevation of a ,car-

rier or holder for any or all of the vdevices Figure 9 shows a modified-detail.

In the drawings, the numeral 11 indicates a block formed of any suitable,material forming a carrier for the target proper and its operating mechanisnr This block houses .in itsupper part, a spool 12, remOvably journaled on a pin 13. i This spool carries a strip of paper or tape 14 wound upon it, which tape has provided upon ita plurality of targets having hulls eyes 15 and 15. These ,bulls [eyes are either-composed of or carry explosive disks or caps. The-tape 14 passes from the roll through a-slot 17 inthe front face of the carrier 11 down .over the front face to the bottom ofthecarrienwhere it passes through another slot 18. Under the front face at the bottom ,of the carrier,

is provided a resilient roller 19 ,operatcd manually by means of a knurled head 20,

which roller frictionally engages the tape 14 so that operation ithereof moves the tape downwardly, unwin ds it-froin the spoohandre-positions new targets. 21 represents mechanisms for limiting rotation ofthe roller 19 to one direction. ,An edge 23 is provided whereby the used targetsmay be torn from the strip ofgood ones. 24 indicated means for hanging up thecarrier 1 1.

In the modified vform shown in ,Figs. 2 to 5, 11* represents a carriercorresponding to the carrier 11 in 1. This carrier is provided with a: front face 25, pivoted ,at 26, so that it may be turned down, as shown in Fig. 3. The front face 25' carries a target 27 of the type used for bulls eyes 28 and 29 thereon, one that is aimed atand the other which is actually hit. 'Thistarget isanovablyheld by the bar 30. ,Back of the front face, the carrier 11 has journaled in it, a metal disk 31, carrying asquarepin 32and having near its periphery, a series ,of apertures 33, which are larger on the back of the plate than on the front. 34 represents a spring back of the plate acting upon it to cause its rotation. 35 indicates a finger carried by the plate, adapted .to engage a stopping pin 36 on the carrier. Ivleansfor permitting the ,plate ,to rotate step by step are provided in a plunger 37, having a round head for engagement with the apertures 33. This plunger is acted upon by a spring 38, carried in the back of the carrier 11*, 39

indicates a paper disk carrying a series of explosive caps 40, positioned to register with the apertures 33 when the disk 39 is applied to the plate 31, as indicated in Fig. 4. The square opening 41, in the paper disk, fits upon the square pin 32 of the plate 31 to cause this registering without any difiiculty. In Figs. 6 and 7, 11 indicates a carrier equivalent to the carriers 11, and 11 previously described. The upper part houses a spool 43, removably journaled on a pin 44 and adapted to carry a tape 45, having a plurality of explosive disks or caps 46 placed along its center line. 47 indicates perforations carried by the tape 45. The tape passes from the spool downwardly through a passage way, extending longitudinally of the carrier 11 and just in front of its rear face. 4.9 indicates a plunger or firing pin'extending from the front. face of the carrier inwardly toset off or fire the caps 46 as they pass before it. Movement inwardly of this pin 49 moves the arm 51 rigidly attached thereto at 50, which arm engages the teeth on 52 and rotates roller 53 step by step. This roller carries pins 54 adapted to engage perforations 47 of the tape, so that it is moved a step at a time whereby a new cap is fed to exploding position in front of the pin 49 as soon as the previous one has been fired. The carrier 11 is adapted to receive a paper target 55 in all respects similar to the target 27 in Fig. 2. The target will be so placed that the bulls eye actually hit will be placed immediately over the firing pin 49.

As the target should be approximately in the plane of the shooters eye, it will be understood that its height must be changed to suit different individuals and to render this easy, a device is provided that is shown in Fig. 8. It consists of a back 65 of any suitable material but preferably light metal having its lateral edges 66 curved around upon themselves, which edges are adapted to engage any of the devices of Figs. 1, 2 and 6 by the provision of grooves 67 in their sides for the edges 66 toengage. 68 represents means for suspending the holder upon the wall. The edges 66 fricti-onally engage the grooves 67 of the carriers so that they may be readily adjusted vertically to the desired height.

In Fig. 9, a slight modification is shown in which, instead of placing the explosive caps on the paper targets, a projection is provided on the bulls eye to be hit on the usual paper target 61 and the explosive cap 62 is placed in a holder 63, carried by the target practice rod 64 of the gun.

The operation of the invention is as follows: In Fig. 1, the target is shot at and if a bulls eye hit is made, the cap or disk located at or forming the bulls eye is exploded so the shooter knows of the perfect shot. Upon the explosion of a disk, the shooter turns the head 20 which causes the unwinding of the spool carrying the tape formed of targets and brings a new one into shooting position.

In Figs. 2 to 5, if the shooter hits the bulls eye, a cap is exploded in the same manner. However, the impact causing the explosion of the cap will cause the momentary retraction of the spring pressed plunger 37, which retraction from the aperture in the plate 31 that it engaged will permit the spring 34 to rotate the plate 31 and paper disk 39. The plunger 37 will return to normal position at once because of the spring 38 and will engage the next aperture 33 as it comes around and thereby stop the plate 31 and paper disk 39 with a new ex plosive cap in bulls eye position ready for another shot from the gun. This automatic action continues until all the caps have been exploded- Then the shooter must put a new paper disk upon the plate 31 and give the plate one rotation to rewind the spring 34 when the device is ready for use again.

In the device of Figs. 6 and 7, the impact of a bulls eye hit depresses the plunger or firing pin 49 and the cap opposite it is exploded. Movement of the pin 49 is transmitted through its associated mechanism to rotate the roller 53 one step which in turn removes the exploded cap from opposite the plunger 49 and replaces it with a new one by movement of the tape 45 carrying the caps a step at a time. This feed is automatic until all the tape on the spool 43 has been used whereupon it must be replaced with new by the shooter.

What I claim is 1. In a holder for targets, an aiming point, a percussion anvil, and means for traversing sound productive material across said percussion anvil.

2. In a holder for explosive targets, an aimlng point, a hit recording point, and means for automatically traversing explo sive units across said hit recording point.

3. In a holder for explosive targets, an aiming point, a hit recording point, and hit actuated means for automatically stepping explosive units across said hit recording point.

4. In a holder for explosive targets, an aiming point, a hit recording point, and spring means for automatically stepping explosive units across said hit recording point.

ROBERT ED /VIN REARDON. 

